Cheers for Monday Feb. 24, 2014

To New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli for checking on how much money we might get back. The effort comes in the form of an audit, the comptroller's best weapon, of the Superfund pollution cleanup program. Under that program, the state Department of Environmental Conservation works to clean up the worst hazardous-waste...

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Posted Feb. 24, 2014 at 2:00 AM

Posted Feb. 24, 2014 at 2:00 AM

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To New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli for checking on how much money we might get back. The effort comes in the form of an audit, the comptroller's best weapon, of the Superfund pollution cleanup program. Under that program, the state Department of Environmental Conservation works to clean up the worst hazardous-waste sites, often an expensive and time-consuming task. Someone or some company was responsible for polluting those sites, of course, and one component of the effort is supposed to be an effort to track down those who contributed and make them pay. From 2006-12, the agency recovered about 16 percent of what was spent to clean up the pollution. The audit is aimed at making sure that the DEC is doing all it can, not only on its primary task of making the sites safe for redevelopment, but also going after those responsible so that taxpayers do not have to pay the whole bill.

To Ricky Pacione, a 2007 graduate of Newburgh Free Academy, who is pursuing a major league dream, although it is not the one he first went after. Following his graduation from Marist and two seasons in the minor leagues, he found like many others that his career had stalled. Maybe he would have one more chance to make a team this spring. And he has, but not in the way most plan. He is now the bullpen catcher for the Cleveland Indians, a full-time job that could open a door not to the playing field but to the dugout because this puts him in daily contact with the coaches, whose ranks he one day might join.

To Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, for urging the agriculture secretary to help minimize the effect of reductions in funding for food stamps, and to Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, for joining the crusade. The recent farm bill contained more than $8 billion in reductions on top of cuts that already are affecting the ability of low-income families to put food on the table. About 350,000 of those affected live in New York and they will see an average reduction of $90 per month. The letter says "Our states need time to adjust their policies to accommodate this drastic cut and roll out the changes seamlessly."

To the observant police force in Plattekill, which was onto a despicable cockfighting operation more than four years ago and then had to hold off while federal agents continued to investigate. Along with the Ulster County Sheriff's Office and state police, the local police conducted surveillance, talked to informants and were about to move in when the FBI called them off with no explanation. Apparently the FBI was slowly building its own case, which resulted in the arrests in Plattekill and New York City recently to shut down the activities. The state Attorney General's Office called it the largest crackdown on a cockfighting ring in state history. More than 4,000 birds were found, officials said.